Russian Orthodox Church Will Answer The Letter Of 138 Muslim’s Leaders

November 30, 2007

Moscow, November 30, Interfax – The Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations completes a response to the letter of the 138 Muslim leaders, the priest Georgy Roschin, an officer of the DECR, reported to the Interfax-Religion website on Friday. The letter was sent to leaders of the main Christian confessions.

Roman Silantyev, Secretary of the Synod Group of the Russian Orthodox Church, marked a friendly character of the letter and gave a positive assessment of its contribution in developing of Christian-Muslims relations. The Synod Group of the Russian Orthodox Church drafts a conceptual document that states a position of Russian Church in Interreligious relations.

“It is pleasant that the 137 Muslim theologians and the Moscow mufti, Ravil Gainutdin do not offer compromises but call on us to study each other and to have an honest dialogue,” Silantyev said.

He thinks that in Christian-Muslim dialogue there is still a myth about each other, and that myth should be unmasked in the first place.

“In my opinion, a response letters of Christian theologians and following discussion will help many Muslims abandon a misunderstanding that the Christian trust in three Gods, practise idolatry and use the distorted Holy Scripture,” Silantyev said.

On October, 11 the 138 Muslim scientists and theologians of different countries forwarded a 29 pages official letter to the 28 Christian leaders with an invitation to a dialogue based on the common values of Islam and Christianity.